


Aftershock

by strawberriesandtophats



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, Friendship, Gen, Pastries, Shock, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-07-19 12:57:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7362334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberriesandtophats/pseuds/strawberriesandtophats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is almost alarming how easy it is to just let himself stay beside Newton in the aftermath of saving the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aftershock

Hermann hadn’t seen this particular grin on Dr. Geiszler’s face in eight and a half years. He’s seen manic ones and determined ones, and even on occasion, wolfish grins but this one, the elated victory grin hasn’t been around in so long he’d forgotten how different it is from all the others. Newton’s arm was still slung around his shoulders, a comforting weight, keeping them both steady and anchored as people became increasingly more overjoyed around them, the air heavy with emotions.

The neural handshake still lingered, and Hermann wasn’t completely certain if the waves of pure joy bordering on giddiness were his own feelings or Dr. Geiszler’s. But it didn’t matter in the long run. All around them people were screaming, calling their loved ones with tears in their eyes and hands shaking from the adrenaline rush. The rest were partying so hard that it was a miracle the Shatterdome was still standing. Every single stash of alcohol, sweets and snacks that was available had been dug out and someone had piled the goods on top of various flat surfaces. Spiced buns, hot chocolate sachets and even some salted caramel muffins were on display. Dozens of cans of soda and energy drinks and even some cans of preserved fruit had somehow appeared on top of a row of filing cabinets.

The arm was still slung across his shoulders, even when Newton grabbed two muffins from the platter on a nearby table and handed Hermann one. Hermann looked at the pastry in his hand, aware of the fact that at least fourteen recipes had been adjusted and fiddled with in order to make the recipe for this muffin, which had both light brown and granulated sugar and just a touch of cinnamon. He’d never baked a salted caramel muffin in his life, but glanced at Newton who was inspecting the frosting before stuffing the entire thing into his mouth.

“Turns out that if you add sour cream, they become fluffier,” Newton informed him, narrowly avoiding spraying him with crumbs. “And that you’ve got to keep the ingredients at room temperature.”

“Of course, baking is applied chemistry in a way,” Hermann replied, sampling his own muffin. In a few moments, someone from medical would show up and begin talking about CT scans and the dangers of what they’d done. Hermann bit into the caramel center and smiled at his friend, who couldn’t seem to stop smiling at him.

Newton had yet to let go of him, his hand warm on Hermann’s shoulder. It must have been the aftereffects of the drift and a combination of the fact that the world was finally safe and sound that caused both of them to behave in that manner. It was all dopamine and endorphin and sugar and the fact that they hadn’t touched another human being for a very long time.

“However, there is absolutely no reason for those technicians to keep pointing and calling us “those crazy science-dudes who drifted with a kaiju and helped save the world,”” Hermann complained, limping towards the drinks table and pouring himself something that smelled like genuine Turkish coffee.  
Newton followed him, holding onto his arm so that Hermann’s shaking leg wouldn’t give out on him. Hermann hadn’t tasted that kind of quality coffee for at least five years. The party at the Shatterdome was still in full swing, and picking up speed by the sound of it. People had started dancing, drunk on joy and relief. He looked at his leg, which was shaking so much that it was visible. Hermann’s eye still stung and he could feel his leg throbbing with every step he took, sharp pain shooting from his knee to his shoulders like an arrow.

“Well, that is what we did,” Newton said with a small shrug. “No use telling anyone otherwise, my man. I was there.”

One should be able to reconcile one’s differences with another person without having to drift with them. Even if they’d spent years getting to know each other by arguing and shouting at each other in various laboratories around the world. One shouldn’t have to crack one’s soul and mind open for the other one to see because the world was ending and they’d run out of options. That was not how the world was supposed to function. 

On some level, Hermann wanted to file a complaint. 

Or possibly write a thank you letter.

Every day, when Hermann made his way inside the lab, he was struck by the fact that there was only one other man that would occupy the space in which he spent most of his waking hours. They barely had time to eat, not to mention sleep. He’d find Dr. Geiszler leaning against a wall some nights, having fallen asleep while standing. The fact that the amount of coffee and tea they consumed hadn’t poisoned them yet was most likely some sort of a miracle according to Tendo, who was the resident expert on such matters. 

Once upon a time, when there was almost bottomless funding and jaeger pilots were celebrities and the world was a more hopeful place, the Shatterdome had several laboratories with the best equipment money could buy and thousands of world-renowned scientists from all over the globe. But by now everyone else had left, either because they were eager to go back to their families and friends and loved ones or because they couldn’t stand the pressure and lack of funding. They’d gone back home.

They were the last two, with only one laboratory between them and funding had been cut so many times that some part of him wondered if the ones in charge of the money knew that almost all of his work related expenses were chalk and occasionally huge tanks of disinfectant. The only ones who had dared to stay behind, even when the world was falling to pieces around them.

That was the inescapable truth of the matter.

Numbers didn’t lie.

Hermann looked at Newton, who was still standing beside him and holding onto Hermann, having taken hold of his upper arm and was chatting with Tendo. Future scientists and students and academics would either think of them as heroes or mad scientists or some mixture of both instead of the serious mathematician Hermann had prided himself on being for years now. But he found that he didn’t mind. 

The only solution had been to join forces. To push past all their past differences, all the arguments and grievances and annoyance and work together to do something that no human should do alone, or at all. And they’d won.

Hermann leaned back into the touch, letting his friend carry most of his weight. There would be time for conversations and important official statements tomorrow because the fact that there would be a tomorrow had become a certainty instead of a question. They had all the time in the world now.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! Please remember to review!


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